The Future of Marketing: How AI Agents Can Enhance Customer Journeys in Retail

AI agents — which can understand, adapt to and support each user’s unique journey — are making online shopping and digital marketing more efficient and personalized. Plus, these intelligent systems are poised to turn marketing interactions into valuable customer research data.

In this episode of the NVIDIA AI Podcast, Jon Heller, co-CEO and founder of Firsthand, discusses how the company’s Brand Agents are revolutionizing the relationship between consumers, marketers and publishers. By using a company’s own knowledge, Firsthand Brand Agents act as AI-powered guides that engage customers on a brand’s website and beyond — assisting at every step of the customer’s journey, from finding solutions to making purchases.

Drawing on decades of industry experience including leadership roles at advertising companies DoubleClick and FreeWheel, Heller explains Firsthand’s vision of AI as a new medium rather than just a technology.

The AI Podcast · Firsthand’s Jon Heller Shares How AI Agents Enhance Consumer Journeys in Retail – Episode 242

AI agents are enabling companies in the retail and consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industries to increase internal efficiency and productivity while improving customer service.

Two of the top use cases for generative AI in retail are: personalized marketing and advertising, and digital shopping assistants or copilots. Learn more about AI’s rapid integration across businesses in NVIDIA’s second annual State of AI in Retail and CPG survey report.

Time Stamps

2:10 — How large language models revealed a new approach to digital marketing.

12:46 — How Firsthand Brand Agents can use various AI capabilities beyond traditional chat.

16:33 — How Firsthand Brand Agents create a connected customer journey by maintaining context across touchpoints.

23:57 — The technical challenges in building agents while maintaining brand safety.

30:10 — How AI can generate unprecedented insights into consumer needs and preferences.

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